One student was killed and 11 persons were injured on Monday when a truck in which they were travelling plunged into a gorge along the Tanakpur-Tawaghat national highway in Pithoragarh. Of the 11 injured, seven were students. All the eight students including the deceased belonged to the Government Inter College Gurna. The students had taken lift in the truck to reach their college, Chief Development Officer Pithoragarh Ashish Chauhan said. The exact cause of the mishap has not been ascertained yet, he said.

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Purohit Mehta (16) died on the spot while the injured have been admitted in Pithoragarh district hospital where the condition of three students is said to be serious, he said.

With construction work going on and building material stacked along the highway, it seems that the driver could not gauge the exact width of the road plunging the vehicle into a deep gorge.